Game 3: Spurs’ keys to victory vs. Warriors

Stop with the ball stopping: The Spurs’ default reaction to an uptick in Golden State’s defensive intensity has been a penchant for one-on-one isolation ball. It won’t work. The top assisting team in the NBA during the regular season, the Spurs produced only four assists in the first half of Game 2, a big reason they managed just 43 points. For the Spurs to have any hope of scoring with the red-hot Warriors, they must get back to the superb ball and layer movement that characterized their offense during the best of times.

Can’t waste anymore time: There are 48 minutes in a regulation NBA game, but you wouldn’t know it by the way the Spurs have approached each of the first two of the series. They played one good quarter in Game 1 and one good half in Game 2, so at least they are trending in the right direction.

If the Spurs can’t put together four solid quarters on the road, matching the Warriors’ energy, they are in trouble in Game 3.

Don’t bet on regression: The common refrain among Spurs fans is that the Warriors have been uncommonly hot from the perimeter and will cool off. That’s not a given. Golden State has made 22 of 53 3-pointers in the series, a 41.5 percent clip. That’s not much better than the league-leading 40.3 percent they shot during the regular season. Second-year shooting guard Klay Thompson probably won’t go 8 of 9 again, but as a team this is who the Warriors are.